Jimmy Butler NBA Trade Rumors: Will the Timberwolves Finally Get Rid of Jimmy Butler After His Outburst?

By now, the entire basketball community may have already heard about Jimmy Butler’s antics during his first practice with the Minnesota Timberwolves this preseason.

Jimmy Butler had a legendary tirade directed at Wolves president of basketball operations/head coach Tom Thibodeau, general manager Scott Layden, and his teammates, especially up-and-coming stars Karl-Anthony Towns, and Andrew Wiggins.

To prove his point, Butler even led the team’s third-stringers to a scrimmage victory over the starters, leaving the coaches and his teammates speechless. But will this finally force the Timberwolves to move him even if they can’t get equal value in return?

At that moment, that still seems unlikely with reports saying that the Wolves are planning to start the season with Jimmy Butler on the roster. In fact, ESPN’s Jorge Sedano has just reported that the Wolves had been playing hardball with the Miami Heat during their trade negotiations.

“The first one, the Heat didn’t want to take back Gorgui Dieng. Then, the next incarnation of the deal was ‘OK forget it, let’s just do it straight up, just for Jimmy on your end.’ They finally relented on Josh Richardson, they were giving them Josh Richardson, then Dion Waiters was going to be the cap filler, and then a protected first-round pick. The medicals were exchanged, which generally in the NBA means this is a done deal. And then, Thibs called back and wanted more picks,” Sedano said (transcript via Deadspin).

Well, Heat president Pat Riley clearly wasn’t happy with how that turned out. The deal collapsed, but the Wolves should get more offers for their star player before the start of the season.

At the moment, Jimmy Butler is still a member of the team, and in a bid to clear the air after his actions on Wednesday, the All-Star swingman decided to call a players-only meeting, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.